THE DEVIL (XV)

OK, it’s time to give The Devil its due and talk about this card. Even though I myself have told many a Tarot newbie that there are no bad Tarot cards, some societal conditioning runs rather deep. I.e., I still find myself a bit, oh, shall we say apologetic that this is one of my family of Tarot cards. (You can determine several cards in the deck that have personal meaning for you by various means, such as birth date. The Devil is Sun sign Capricorn, and so am I.) I also suspect my hesitation to address this card has deeper significance for me and, therefore, it might be helpful if I post it sooner rather than later to see what gets shaken out of the tree. LOL! That expression puts me in mind of The Devil, renamed The Thinker, in The New Tarot for the Aquarian Age (by John Cooke and Rosalind Sharpe)*, who sits in a tree surrounded by flames. Hm....

DIFFERENT TAKES ON THE DEVIL:

I'm making an exception here and quoting first from the book accompanying The Reverse Tarot on The Thinker (the "progressed" Devil): "If he didn't sit and think about them, the chains might drop and leave him free to descend from the tree." "Don't take your time. Respond at once to the action of your heart." "In the Aquarian Age, there is no outer Devil to tempt you. It is only your own inner THINKER which enslaves you." [end quotes]

Self-imposed limitations.

Learning from life’s hard lessons.

Not yet time to lead or teach others, you are too bound up in personal issues.

Bound up too much in someone else’s issues.

A teacher/teaching that challenges what you have previously believed. Remember that doubt is an important spiritual tool.

Temptation, rather than being seen as a failing, can be seen as an opportunity to recognize your choices. I.e., an opportunity to stay conscious and act responsibly.

You may be intensely influenced/bound by issues of nature and/or nurture. Therefore, childhood is a good place to look for information relating to the issue of inquiry.

Lighten up; don’t take yourself quite so seriously. (There’s that old expression that “Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.”)

By the light of recent grace or insights, you can lift the chains of some negative habit.

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* This link is to a review of a later triple deck that Cooke produced, which includes the entire Reverse Tarot. The Thinker is in the bottom row, far left.

Please see the top of the sidebar for my background with the Tarot and a recommendation to beginners.

‘til next time, keep lightening up and enjoying The Tarot,
Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)**** SEE ALSO: Roswila’s Dream & Poetry Realm for some articles about Tarot.****

PLEASE NOTE: All photos on this blog designated as cards in Roswila's "The Found Tarot" are by Patricia Kelly (a/k/a Roswila)

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"...No student will ever exhaust the possibilities of this extraordinary symbolic alphabet, any more than one person can exhaust the possibilities of a language." BOTA Tarot Course

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"Tarot cards are like people. We get to know them more or less well, but never completely. And like people, they change over time and with experience of them. This is not to say we can't really know a card. Anymore than one would say one doesn't really know one's best friend or mate or lover. Simply that with these cards we form, as with people, many-faceted, living, changing relationships." Roswila

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MY TAROT BACKGROUND: I've studied, collected and taught Tarot for almost 40 years, collecting many, many notes about meanings, approaches, and layouts I've seen or developed for the cards. I do not usually post the more traditional meanings as I learned them, but only those that are -- at least to me -- less common as they occur to me (many with a decidedly psychological bent). I ultimately offer Tarot meaning and other Tarot-related posts hoping to contribute to the rich and constantly evolving universe of The Tarot. But even more so, to encourage you to explore the wide variety of Tarot art, and maybe even to learn to read the Tarot for yourself and reap its rich rewards.

IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATION TO BEGINNERS: What I share here is not intended to be a comprehensive look at any one card. These simply are what I consider to be somewhat less usual ways I've come across of relating to a card, both in terms of image and meanings. Books and web sites abound for the more traditional and common meanings of the Tarot cards. If you are a beginner, I highly encourage you try some of the links listed below, and as resources at the bottoms of posts here. Tarot is an extremely diverse and exciting field.

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"...faced with silent pictures destined to make him think, his task consists in discovering in them the things that are hidden within himself." – Oswald Wirth in "Tarot of the Magicians"

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"I like the tarot because it works like poetry and because you don’t really have to ‘believe in’ anything. It’s there to be used. The symbols are remarkably durable and beautiful; they float out to encompass all kinds of meanings.” – Alice Notley, poet

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"The Tarot is an ever progressing rendition or map of the inner structures of consciousness. It is a language in itself, a universal language, and its individual cards form a precise alphabet spelled out again and again in new terms to awaken those who seek to know the Self." -- John Starr Cooke, designer/channeler of The New Tarot for the Aquarian Age.

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"I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart's affection and the truth of the Imagination." John Keats, poet

About Me

Retired, I'm grateful to indulge in daily blogging, taking digital photos, writing poetry every day, and other creative efforts as the spirit grabs me. I also enjoy reading my poems and sometimes improvising on one of the musical instruments in my collection (e.g. didjeridu or kalimba), in our retirement community's regular Talent Shows. And I also occasionally play a role in one of
our radio plays, written by a resident,
and read on stage as if an actual radio show.

"Ganesh dances joyfully,
each step out of now into now again;
each footprint filling to overflowing with kindness.
Remover of Obstacles, clear me out of my own way;
teach me how to dance lightly through life,
how to spill over with love."